In Your Shoes
by Caco823
Summary: When both Ben and Gwen blame themselves for putting each other in peril, they each come up with different solutions to the problem. While Gwen goes for a relatively more positive resolution, it cannot be said the same for Ben.
1. Chapter 1 Haunted

A word from the author –

I started watching Ben 10 at the beginning of the summer, so you can say that Ben and I spent the vacation together. I'm obsessed with him and his adventures right now, and since last term my teacher taught my class story writing and I kind of fell in love with it, I couldn't help but to write this fanfiction.

The episode The Alliance and Back with a Vengeance really touched me. My insides actually went sour and painful when I watched to scene where Ben ran away and the part where the Omnitrix was ripped forcefully off his wrist. And that very night I saw episode 26, I had a nightmare, the very one that Gwen had in the story.

That's where the plot came from.

I spent about two weeks on this, a little more than I expected, with all that holiday homework untouched on my desk. I'm having trouble with grammar, but I swear I'm already trying my best. I'd really appreciate it if you guys review, so that I'd know how I'm doing and do a better job next time.

This is my first fic, so there's bound to be mistakes here and there. Please feel free to point them out to me, so I can improve. I've got to admit, it's really exciting putting stuff that I write on the internet and having people commenting on it. It feels good to know that somebody's actually appreciating what you write, or at least being your teachers on the internet, correcting what's wrong.

Thanks!

* * *

Disclamer: I don't own Ben 10.

GWEN

Chapter 1 – Haunted

I woke up panting and sweating, the scene before me slowly dimming away. I found myself in total darkness, gasping desperately for air and clutching my heart so tightly it hurt. It was beating so fast I was afraid it would jump right out of my chest.

_Calm down, Gwen_, I thought, _that wasn't real_.

My blanket has somehow fallen off my bunk and my pillow has managed to escape to somewhere near my feet. I realized then I must have been thrashing quite a bit in my sleep.

_It's a dream, just a dream._

I took a glance at my digital clock. The glow-in-the-dark numbers and the two flashing dots in between were the only things I could see.

It was three-forty in the morning.

_It's a dream, okay? And dreams can't hurt you._

There was a sudden need for fresh air, so as my eyes came to focus of my surroundings I slid silently from my bunk, careful not to wake my cousin and grandpa. I didn't want to be caught out of bed in the dead of the night. I would have to tell them about my nightmare, and I certainly didn't want to. Seeing that memory replay in my sleep was bad enough. There was no point in describing it to them and torture myself in the recollection again.

Grandpa was snoring loudly at his driver's seat. I gave one last look at my cousin on the bottom bunk. _He's fine_, I told myself, _he's right there. It's was all but a nightmare_.

He was sleeping soundly, alright. His pillow, like mine, was out of place. He was dangling half-way out of his bunk, so that his head was touching the floor. I guess that's the way all doofuses sleep.

I tried not to laugh and wince in disgust at the same time. The dweeb was drooling like a sick dog.

_But at least he wasn't troubled by disturbing visions every time he closed his eyes._

I grabbed a flashlight, slid into my trainers and made my way quietly out the Rustbucket. I seriously needed a walk.

* * *

I guess that incident affected me quite a bit.

That dream has been haunting me since that fateful day. Sorry, did I say dream? I meant a nightmare. A terrible nightmare. One that scared the living daylights out of me.

Anyway, I'm getting pretty sick of myself. It's been two weeks since we last met Vilgax. Who on earth gets the same nightmares for fourteen days in a row? That only happens to fictional characters in books or the TV.

I turned on the flashlight. There was nothing but trees. Grandpa has decided to camp out here in the forest. It seemed okay during the day, when the sun was shining and all, but now, with the moon nowhere in sight...the pines look rather creepy to me.

Nevertheless I went a little way into the mist of pointy, prickly leaves. A little walk couldn't possibly hurt. Besides, fresh air does everyone good. I mean, that's what they always say, right? Take a couple of deep breaths, and you'll be fine.

I wish it were that easy.

The RV was soon out of sight. I decided that if I kept walking in a straight line, I couldn't possibly get lost. All I had to do was to retrace my steps and I'll be back in bed again.

I thought how real the nightmare felt, how everything in the dream happened exactly how it had two weeks ago, such that I thought it was history repeating itself and not just the result of my restless brain.

Then I told myself that I was out here to take a healthy stroll, and not to spook myself by running the memory through in my head again in a creepy forest in the middle of the night.

I was walking deeper and deeper into the woods, but I was hardly aware of it. I was too busy trying to keep my mind away from the nightmare. I was trying not to think about it. Not that I was doing a great job. Everything I set my eyes on, every sound that found its way into my ears, refused to leave me alone.

The green light.

The Omnitrix.

Vilgax.

The screams.

Urgh. Why can't they just leave me be?

I thought about telling Grandpa about these dreams. What would he say? That's there's nothing to be worried about? That everyone gets freaky nightmares? Or would my dreams mean something? What if they foretell the end of the world? Or a massive alien invasion? I couldn't help but remember the last time Ben had nightmares about Vilgax, he got hunted down by that creepy tentacle-beard alien the very next day.

On second thought, I wouldn't tell Grandpa. There was no point making them worry about insane conclusions I've randomly jumped to.

I felt envious of my doofus of a cousin. He was there too when the incident happened. It wasn't fair that I was the only one being haunted day and night and being driven out of my sleep by that one memory.

I could have slapped myself for thinking such a thing. "Cut it out!" I shouted furiously. My voice echoed through the trees. "You don't want Ben having those nightmares. You having them are bad enough."

"_First sign of madness, talking to your own head_," a voice sneered back. I groaned in frustration.

A slight breeze pecked at my cheek. "Anyway, they're just stupid nightmares," I said forcefully, trying to sound confident. I didn't notice the sweat that was forming on the palm of my hands. "The real thing happened weeks ago. It won't ever happen again. Nobody's going to get hurt again. Vilgax is in Null Void. He's not coming out. After a while I'll get myself occupied in other stuff and the dreams will simply go aw –"

At that very moment I tripped on a particularly large stone on the ground. The flashlight was knocked out of my grip and landed somewhere three feet away. I stumbled, trying to regain my balance, but in vain. I fell towards the damp forest floor. Something hard hit the back of my head, and I everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2 Hunted

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 2 – Hunted

I opened my eyes and found the world upside down. It took me a few seconds to figure out that I've fallen out of the bunk.

_Aw man, not again._

Groaning, I picked myself up and rubbed the sore part of my head. Thank goodness I wasn't sleeping on the top bunk, or the fall would have been extremely painful. I was pretty sure the noise of the impact would have woken the whole RV.

I quickly wiped off the drool with my sleeve. Since I was upside-down, it had ended up all over my face. Urgh.

_Seriously, I've got to stop having these dreams. Somehow they always finish off with me on the floor._

My clock showed three-forty-five in the morning. Right in the middle of the dead of the night.

I hated those dreams. I really, really hated them. I mean, who would want to see Vilgax every single day? As if that one visit to the Null Void with Mr. Octopus-head wasn't enough for a lifetime already!

I decided that I would pay a visit to the bathroom. A splash to the face surely would help me cool off.

As the ice cold water stung the surface of my skin, I wondered why I kept having these dreams. It's been a while since that incident happened – two weeks to be exact. I didn't think normal people had dreams that repeat themselves over and over again.

These dreams, visions, nightmares…whatever, really disturbed me. As in troubled me, made me feel sick, kept me awake for nights and so on. But the most important thing was, they made me hate myself.

I've never really hated myself before. I mean, I wasn't a super cool kid at school and all that, but that never bothered me too much. After all, with the Omnitrix, I was a hero, and not to mention the most powerful ten-year old in the world. I should be proud, I guess. I was doing the world a lot of good.

Okay, I take back what I said about never hated myself. I did, once, when that Joey woman, aka Rojo, attacked Grandpa. That was only about a month ago. I tried to run away the last time, but in the end, Gwen and Grandpa convinced me that in was for the best that we stayed together. Now, however, I wasn't sure I was going to stay convinced.

With the Omnitrix on my wrist, I'm bound to be constantly targeted by aliens all over the universe. That's okay by me, because I love kicking alien butt. I guess Grandpa will be fine, too, as he was an excellent Plumber before he retired, right? But Gwen…she doesn't have any powers of her own. Not since her lucky charm's power got destroyed the last time we beat Hex and Charmcaster anyway. If really tough aliens come looking for a fight, she can be in serious trouble…

Hey, don't get me wrong. It's not as if I'm worried about that mega dweeb or anything. I mean, she's a total doofus, right? It's just I don't like getting people into trouble. Okay, maybe I do like getting Gwen into trouble, but not that kind of trouble when people get hurt or get held hostage. That kind of trouble seriously sucks.

I didn't understand why those dreams kept haunting me. I wouldn't exactly call them a nightmare, because I wasn't really scared. Seeing the reality replay before your eyes again and again can be rather eerie, but that didn't spook me or anything. It just made me feel like a total jerk.

The idea of telling Grandpa and my cousin about those dreams was ridiculous enough, even though it was pretty abnormal to have the same dream every night for fourteen days. I could see Grandpa saying that it was no big deal and Gwen laughing and teasing me about it the very instant.

Maybe it's time I went to bed again. Hopefully my sleep will be dreamless this time.

I dragged myself out of the bathroom. That's when I noticed a change in the RV.

Gwen's bunk was empty.

* * *

"Where do you think she went?" I shouted to Grandpa as we went running through the forest, screaming Gwen's name.

"I don't know," Grandpa replied, brows furrowed and panting slightly, struggling to keep up with me. "Why would she go out in the middle of the night?"

How could I have been so stupid? I should have been aware of Gwen's absence the moment I awoke. I haven't heard anyone leave the RV during my little stay in the bathroom, which meant she must have gone before the dream woke me up.

The lights of our flashlights danced from one tree to another, but there was still no sign of my cousin.

I started to worry. What if some aliens have her? What if she's been dragged out of the RV? But then there should be signs of struggle, right?

I decided to speed up the search. Wildmutt could easy sense Gwen if she was around. I quickly found the alien I wanted on the Omnitrix and slammed it down. A flash a green light blinded everything within five feet of the watch, and when the light died down, I was, thankfully, the orange, eyeless, dog-like alien.

"Good thinking, Ben," Grandpa nodded his approval. I gave no answer but immediately went to my search and started sniffing around. I ran a little way in front and looked desperately for any sign of Gwen at all. If I could just find her scent…!

BOOM!

The pine tree next to me blew up in a bang and was soon consumed by flames. I turned round in shock, and came face to face with a round, red flying robot, armed with guns and lasers.

It was one of Vilgax's drones!

_No!_ I thought, horrified. _What if Vilgax's got Gwen?_

"Ben! Where are you?" Grandpa's voice was distant. I've been so into the search that I hadn't realized that I'd left him a long way behind. I tried to call back to him, but all I could make out was a grunt.

So I did the only thing I could. I charged at the drone.

It dodged my attack as I went crashing into a tree. Fortunately I have done this a million times before, and instead of smashing right into the prickly leaves, I turned around, kicked off using the tree as a launching pad and flew at the flying robot. It shot at me, as all robots do, and went zigzag through the air, slipping away from my clutches.

Aggravated, I gave a roar, threw myself at the drone and clung on. I was about to rip the wires out when one of its guns appeared out of nowhere, took aim, and blasted me right off it.

I fell through the air and hit the rocks below with a gigantic thud. And just my luck, the Omnitrix timed out.

"Aw man!" I moaned. "Not now!"

In a flash of red I was back to my human form. I grabbed my shoulder that was searing with pain. Stupid rocks! Of all the places on earth, why do they have to be right where I landed?

Now my head was hurting too. But that couldn't be right. I didn't remember hitting my head anywhere, except the floor of the RV, and that was ages ago.

When I looked up, my heart almost skipped a beat.

Three gigantic attack drones were hanging in mid-air, as if surveying me with interest. The first one has brought its friends.

Could this day be any worse?

* * *

With all the good sense I was born with, I ran.

I want to say that I did a great job of getting away like a real hero, and that I dodged every one of the drones' attacks with ease. The truth was, I went stumbling all the way. I was blasted into the air and fell painfully down again couple of times when their missiles exploded behind me.

I was dashing blindly through the forest, the three flying robots hot on my trail. I couldn't see where I was going, and kept bumping into trees. I had dropped my flashlight in the place where I transformed to Wildmutt.

The pine leaves scratched at my face as I zoomed pass them. It hurt a bit, but I couldn't possibly care about that now.

_Come on, come on!_ I pleaded the watch. However, it remained red and useless. I resisted the urge to curse.

Now my shoulder hurt more than ever. My legs were begging me to stop. I started to get dizzy. My vision started to get foggy. _This wasn't good._

I didn't know how much longer I could run.

And then just about twenty feet ahead, I saw a light. With renewed speed, I darted towards it. I didn't know what it was doing in the middle of nowhere during the night, but I was sure it meant there was someone there, and whoever he was, he might be able to help.

The robots were closing on me fast. I tried to ignore the laser beams raining down behind me. Another glance at the watch told me that there was no "going hero" yet.

Then I saw it – it was a flashlight. Approaching closer, I saw the initials M.T. written on the side of it.

Gwen was near!

And sure enough, I found my cousin, just a few feet away, senseless on the ground. Feeling terrified, I raced towards her.

"Hey! Doofus, get up!" I shook her shoulder, but she wouldn't stir. Out of the corner of my eye, the drones were almost upon me. Panicked, I grabbed Gwen and dragged her out of the way behind the trees.

The Omnitrix was taking longer to recharge than normal. I beat it repeatedly, but that got me nothing but a sore hand. Helpless, I screamed at the top of my lungs, "GRANDPA!"

One of the drones turned to the direction of my voice and fired at everything in its sight, including the tree I was hiding behind. It went up in flames and went tumbling down us. Instinctively, I grabbed Gwen and jumped out of the way, trying to avoid all the forty feet trees that came crashing down as they were swallowed by the sea of fire.

"Come on, Gwen, WAKE UP!" I yelled into her ears and shook her furiously, but she remained unconscious. Trust me, dragging your cousin who weights more than a million pounds with you when the world is trying to squash you into a pancake is not fun at all.

Then it was as if the earth itself blew up, and both my cousin and I were flung into the air. I landed on my already sore shoulder, so that I screamed in pain as the impact was made. Gwen landed right on my stomach, knocking all the air out of me.

I groaned. This was definitely not my day.

Finally, and not exactly miraculously, Gwen stirred. "No," she whimpered like an injured animal. "Stop it…"

"Stop what?" I muttered. Only then did that doofus figured that she was right on top me. "B-ben? What –?"

"LOOK OUT!" I shouted, as behind her I saw two of the drones scooping down upon us. I gave Gwen a mighty push as she flew five feet away and hit a tree trunk.

The last thing I ever remembered was a great flash of yellow light.


	3. Chapter 3 Her Fault

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 3 – Her Fault

I was in the Null Void, in the breath-choking grip of that monster, Kevin Levin. He was holding me tight, and all my struggles were in vain. I couldn't get away no matter how much a thrashed about, no matter how much I pushed and kicked.

Aw why did I come into the Null Void the first place? The place was enough to scare the bravest person on earth out of his skin. Its uncanny, purplish atmosphere with humongous, round floating rocks that looked suspiciously like gigantic potatoes were driving me nuts. I yelled and screamed some more, but that didn't do me any good. I was stuck.

I could hear Grandpa shouting from the earpiece, asking me what was wrong. But I couldn't answer him. How could I tell him that I was being held hostage, and that Ben was being surrounded by Kevin and Vilgax? Even if I did tell him, Grandpa wouldn't be able to help.

I have never felt so helpless. The three of us hung in mid-air as I watched Stinkfly looked from Vilgax to Kevin, as if trying to find a way out. Then he landed on little rock island below, and turned back to Ben in a flash of green.

"Let her go, and you can have this stupid Omnitrix!" he shouted. To prove his point he held up the watch.

"Ben, no!" I screamed. I didn't care. I wasn't going to let one of the most powerful weapons of the universe fall into the wrong hands!

"We have a deal, don't we, Vilgax? My cousin for this stupid watch!" I watched him as he yelled determinedly at the villain. His expression grim and angry. I have never seen him look this way before.

But there was something else I saw, something small and hidden – a tiny bit of helplessness and desperation mixed with panic behind the mask of bravery and confidence.

In spite of everything happening at that time, I couldn't help feeling slightly comforted. So Ben really does care, even if we've been trying to get each other into trouble since the very first day we met.

Kevin and Vilgax both jumped off their ride, and closed in upon Ben. He stood firmly and held out his hand for Vilgax. I could see him shaking for the tiniest bit, and so would I, if I were him. But he just stood there, unyielding, staring right into Vilgax's eyes. My heart was beating so hard against my chest that it hurt. I did not want to think what Vilgax was going to do to Ben when was going to force off the Omnitrix. The last time he got hold of my cousin, he tried to cut Ben's wrist off.

I wanted to shout for Ben to go, to leave right there and now. I wanted to shout for him to escape when he could and go back to Grandpa, but I couldn't bring myself to. As much as I didn't want to let Vilgax lay his hands on the Omnitrix, I didn't want to stay stuck in the Null Void forever. It was selfish of me, but at that very moment I was so scared, I simply couldn't bring myself to be noble.

I never had the courage or the recklessness that Ben had.

Ben looked at me, his expression unreadable. _I'm sorry_, I wanted to say. I could hardly look at him, but I forced myself to. _I'm so sorry that this is my entire fault._

Kevin lowered me toward Ben, and he stretched out his right hand. I took it, feeling hopeful. Maybe we could somehow get out of this unscratched.

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes high.

The moment Vilgax has his grip on Ben's left arm, Kevin flung me away like a ragged doll and launched at Ben. He knocked my cousin to the edge of the floating island and stepped on his arm.

I couldn't do anything, for even though I was free, my weapon was useless against Kevin or Vilgax. They simply couldn't be hurt by my gun. I couldn't get anywhere close to Ben either, for while Kevin was working away with a machine with four evil-looking claws, Vilgax was keeping an eye on me.

Grandpa was yelling into my ear about getting back right now, but I couldn't leave without Ben. I couldn't go without him, not when he had just sacrificed his most prized possession for me.

I forced myself not to watch, but it was impossible. The world was filled with a green light from the Omnitrix as Kevin set the machine to work. He fixed the machine onto the watch and started pulling. The Omnitrix started flashing different aliens on its screen. But I didn't see all that, because all I could hear was you screaming in agony.

I saw the Omnitrix coming off slowly, but the machine was ripping off your wrist as well. I finally turned away and squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch. Your screaming became louder, and I couldn't bear to know just how much pain you were enduring. _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!_

We were never the best of friends, I mean, we _did_ spent every minute of our ten miserable years on earth calling each other dweebs and doofuses. We did try our very best to tease and humiliate each other with every spare moment we have. But that only made it worse. Every scream that escaped your mouth pierced through my heart like lightning splitting open a mountain. Every strangled cry that hung in the air reminded me of all those times I've been horrible to you.

And you were in this whole ordeal the first place all because of me.

This is all my fault. I shouldn't have let Kevin get hold of me. I shouldn't have let you give up the Omnitrix for me, for how could I live with that fact that here I was, completely unharmed, floating in the Null Void and watching you being tortured while there you were, suffering from the excruciating torment, when you could have easily escaped if you had only left me alone?

But you didn't. You stayed.

This is all my fault.

"No, stop it!"I screamed, but my voice was swallowed up by your cries, that went louder still. "Stop it! Stop it!"

And for the first time of my life, tears came to my eyes, but I hastily blinked them away. I never cried. Never. I wasn't going to allow myself to become so vulnerable. I told myself that I wouldn't cry for anyone in the world, and definitely not a dweeb like you.

But the tears kept coming, until I couldn't see clearly anymore.

Then the darkness consumed me, and everything disappeared.

"No…"

"Stop it…"

* * *

"Stop what?"

Ben's voice instantly snapped me out of my dream state. The pain in my head that was probably caused by my fall a little while ago pierced me like a needle. It was only a second later when I found myself sprawled out right on top of my cousin's stomach.

"B-ben?" I gasped. "What -?"

"LOOK OUT!" I didn't even have a chance to glance at what Ben was talking about when he gave me such a forceful shove that I went flying back and hit my head on hard bark. At the very same moment there was a huge flash of yellow that probably blinded the whole world and the loudest boom you could ever imagine to hear; it was as if the moon itself has crashed onto the earth.

I shielded my eyes from the brightness by turning away from the light, and shut my ears against the noise. After a while the yellow light disappeared and the boom died down, and as I dared myself to open my eyes all I could see was dust.

"Ben?" I called, but my voice was hoarse. "BEN?" I shouted, much louder this time, but there was no answer.

_No_, I thought, feeling extremely terrified as I fanned away the dirt in the air, looking for my cousin, please _don't let him be dead._

I started choking on dust. The explosion was so large the entire atmosphere was filled with it. I couldn't see where I was going. I called out to Ben's name again and again, but only silence answered me.

This is all my fault. Again. If only I hadn't gone strolling around in the middle of the night, Ben would never have tried to look for me. We would still be save in the RV!

"GRANDPA?" I tried, hoping with all my heart he was nowhere too near when the explosion happened. _Ben won't sneak out to look for me alone. He's clever enough to ask Grandpa to go with him. So if Ben's here, Grandpa must be somewhere around…_

Eventually, the dust settled, and I could see once more. I heard something move behind me, and thinking it was Ben, and turned around and instead found myself facing the three of Vilgax's drones.

So this was what attacked us!

I turned and fled as fast as my legs would carry me, while calling Ben's name with what was left of my breath. The flying robots came after me, raining bullets on my trail. I turned the corner sharply, taking two of the drones by surprise as they zoomed straight ahead, but one robot remained at my tail, gaining up on me.

"Ben!" Then by some miracle I found the green light from the Omnitrix just up ahead, and there was my cousin, spread-eagled on the ground, unmoving. I stumbled up to him, felt my legs shaking, and shook him slightly.

"Wake up, please!" I cried, glancing around to see that the attack drone was already fast upon us. "You've got to wake up!"

I shook him yet again, but he remained still and limp. My heart gave a jolt as I tried to locate his pulse, despite my shaking hands. A sigh of relief escaped my lips when I felt the small beating on his wrist under my fingertips.

A fast buzzing sound appeared from above me as the red flying robot aimed its guns right at us. Its two friends have now caught up with it, and they

_This is it_, I thought, _we're dead._

_If only I had magic, I could have gotten us out of here. If only I can do magic like Charmcaster or Hex, then we'll be safe from harm! _

_I'm sorry, Ben. This is all my fault._

A ray of blue light speared the sky. Then came another two. The sound of engines subsiding filled the air until three destroyed drones fell onto the ground.

"Ben?" a voice called from behind the trees, "are you alright?"

"Grandpa!" I screamed, and before I knew it I was sobbing into Grandpa's shirt, howling like a baby. I was letting myself become weak and emotional, but I didn't care.

* * *

Grandpa carried my cousin back to the Rustbucket. He didn't ask questions, and I was thankful. I didn't think I was ready to do any explaining just yet.

We headed straight to the hospital. We put Ben in his bunk, and not once during the one-hour ride to the city did he ever stir. I checked his pulse every few minutes, just to make sure.

The darkness of the forest has masked the injuries he received from the explosion. Now, however, under the light of the lamps, I could see clearly just how hurt he was. Bruises, cuts, and who knows how many broken bones beneath the skin. He was blasted almost thirty feet away from the big boom, after all.

_You idiot…why do you always have to play the hero?_

Ben was rushed into the operation room as soon as we got to the hospital. Just as the doors were closed and the curtains were drawn, hiding whatever the doctors were doing with my cousin in there, Grandpa put a hand on my shoulder.

"Honey, we need to talk."


	4. Chapter 4 His Fault

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 4 – His fault

The first thing that came to mind was that I was dead.

Bright white lights.

White ceilings.

White walls.

White floors.

This had to be heaven, but then something told me that heavens didn't have white beds, nor white machines that go beep, beep, beep. And heavens didn't have that all too familiar smell of hospitals.

_Aw man._

_I hate hospitals._

Hospitals reminded me of dead people. Well, heaven reminded me of dead people too, but those are and-from-then-on-they-lived-happily-ever-after kind of dead people, and not the oh-gosh-I-can't-hold-on-much-longer kind.

All my life I've been to the hospital for exactly seven times, and not once did I ever liked it. The first was when I was born. I guess I couldn't have done anything about it then, but I'm sure I must have been terribly scared by all those people in white.

The second time was when three. I was jumping on my bed when I fell down and broke my head. I was out cold when I was carried to the hospital, but by some chance I woke right before the operation was about to begin. The machines totally freaked me out.

For the third time, my Grandpa Sean, a.k.a. my mum's dad, got sick, so my family went to visit him. That was the last time I ever saw him.

During first grade, our class went to the hospital to donate blood. The nurse who was in charge of me made five tries before she stuck the needle in the right place. I didn't usually cry, but I couldn't help it. That was the forth visit.

My fifth visit was the worst. I was eight at that time, and somehow I caught a high fever that wouldn't go down for days. My parents rushed me to the hospital, and there I stayed for another three weeks before I could leave. I made a friend there – George – but within ten days from knowing each other he died from his fever. That scared the hell out of me.

And it was also why I felt so nervous and restless when Grandpa was raced to the hospital when the rubble rained down on him. The white building reminded me of too many horrible memories.

So you can just understand just how I flew into a total hysterical panic I was when I woke to find myself in the hospital, bandaged from almost head to toe and unable to move one bit.

However, that was nothing when compared to the next thing that happened. I was suddenly being attacked by my cousin's hug of death.

I felt all the air being squeezed out of me. My slowly healing bones were screaming out in protest.

"Gwen! C-can't br-breathe!"

I was about to demand her to let go and tease her for being all mushy and stuff when I realized that she was crying. Taken aback, I saw her face for the first time since I awoke.

Red, puffy eyes. Tearstained cheeks.

This wasn't the Gwen I knew.

Gwen never cried. NEVER. She always said that emotions made one weak. She's the toughest girl in the whole wide world. She didn't even let a single tear fall when she fell off her bike and rolled down the hill when she was five.

She never cried from physical injuries, so that had to mean…

"You IDIOT!" I tried to recall what I did to upset her, even though my mind was a complete blank, but before I knew it Gwen was yelling in my face, rivers of salty tears still streaming down uncontrollably. "YOU STUPID DOOFUS! YOU – YOU –!"

I opened my mouth to say something, but just looking at her I was lost for words.

She held tightly onto my shoulders and sobbed her heart out into my chest. Awkwardly I patted her back. I couldn't find words of comfort, not that I was particularly gifted at doing that. Besides, I didn't know what her problem was.

We were never the best of friends, but seeing her so broken, so miserable, I felt my heart aching for her. And that was pretty extreme, because I had never really felt bad for anyone except myself before, and honestly couldn't imagine myself feeling bad for that dweeb.

But that was just what I was doing right now.

If only I knew what was upsetting her. It had to be something that I'd done wrong. I mean, there was no way she'd be breaking down like that because I got hurt. I've gotten myself bruised all over for over a million times when I was kicking alien butt, and all I had ever got from her were a few sadistic remarks and sarcastic comments.

Well, to be fair I've never been this injured that I had to be hospitalized, but still…

While I continued smoothing my cousin's shivering back and casting constant worried looks at Grandpa, who was just sitting next to me, I racked my brains to remember how ended up in a hospital, wrapped in bandages. I tried to recall how I got all these broken bones, but somehow, I couldn't. All I could remember was big flash of yellow light. I couldn't even tell you what happened before that.

"Gwen?" I finally said, rather uncertainly, when her violent sobs gradually came to a stop. "What did I do?"

She stared at me, eyes all misty, as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world. I probably had, but seriously, I needed some answers.

But instead of answering, my doofus of a cousin ran out of the room.

There was a moment's silence.

"Uh, Grandpa?" I said, staring bewildered at the empty doorway. "What just happened?"

* * *

I was zooming up and down as Stinkfly in the Null Void, chased by two of my worst enemies, Mr. Octopus face and Kevin 11. I would probably have been dead by now if not for the Master Control, and I'll have to thank my lucky stars and the creator of the Omnitrix for that, whoever he was.

Anyway, I managed to throw them off my trail for a bit, which was a good thing, because it gave me a moment to catch my breath, which I badly needed. I only slowed down for a bit though, not enough for them to catch up with me just yet.

If only I had listened to Grandpa when he said not to approach the portal. Being the idiot that I was, I didn't listen. Now I'm stuck here in the worst place in the world with the entire universe after my life, with no way out.

I just wished Grandpa would have something up his sleeve and get me out of here. Otherwise, I was just sentenced to a life-long torment with Vilgax and Kevin. I could just see myself fighting each day to stay alive.

I didn't know what I would do for food if I couldn't get out. I doubted that there would be any supermarkets in a place like this.

I decided to keep that matter out of my mind for the time being. If I were to die, I'd go down fighting. That would surely be much more heroic than being starved to death.

I thought I heard something behind me, so I sped up. I didn't even bother to take a look.

"Not without Ben!"

I gasped when I heard my name, and the all so familiar voice of my dear cousin. I spun around, trying to locate the source. I scanned the area from top to bottom, but there was no sign of the red-headed dweeb anywhere…

"Wait…what's that smell?"

Ooof! I slammed into something small and soft that had by some means gotten in my way. Blinking my four eyes and trying to get the dizziness out of my head, I found myself face to face with my cousin, and my heart leapt with joy. Finally – a person in the Null Void who didn't want me dead.

Grandpa has sent help! I was going to get out of here.

"Gwen!" I shouted happily, "am I glad to see you!"

To my own surprise I held her close with my two front legs and hugged her, and I was in a much greater degree of astonishment when she hugged me back.

I guess even with all those times we were being mean to each other, Gwen really did care.

"The portal's closing," Gwen said urgently, showing me her strange watch with symbols that I had no idea what they meant. "We have to get out of here, now!"

But at that point in time I was distracted, because I had just realized that we were heading straight into the mouth of some gigantic, purplish, earthworm-like monster with fangs too big for my liking. I screamed, and so did Gwen, but I quickly took charge, grabbed my cousin, and dodged its first lunge at us.

It kept on attacking us, but nevertheless it was too slow for Stinkfly. I managed to get us safely out of the way.

Following Gwen's directions, the portal back to our world came to sight in the far distance. However, just as we thought everything would be fine and that we would get away unharmed, Kevin rocketed out of nowhere and grabbed Gwen.

"Going somewhere without your old pal Kevin?" I gritted my teeth as I watched his hold on Gwen tighten by the second.

Before I could do anything, my cousin grabbed her laser gun and shot at Kevin. At first I thought it would work, and that we were free to go at last, but the monster had in some way become laser-proof. The gun didn't hurt him at all. The lasers were subdued by the mere contact to Kevin's skin.

I tried to say something brave, despite the fact that I wasn't feeling courageous at all. Perhaps if I could buy some time, I would be able to think of a plan. "Let her go, or I'll –"

"Or you'll what?" A chill went up my spine when Vilgax's voice came from behind me. A turned to the direction of his voice, and there he was, riding his grey, flying octopus.

I was trapped.

The portal was just about a tiny way out of reach. I could easily get there if I had a tiny head start, and that could be obtained if I just zoomed off right now and took them by surprise.

But I couldn't leave Gwen. She risked her life to get me out of the Null Void by coming into this wretched place herself. Furthermore, it was my fault I let Kevin snatch her right out of my hands, or legs, for that matter.

I couldn't leave Gwen here with Kevin and Vilgax. She may be a total doofus sometimes, but right now, she was my cousin, and I wasn't about to desert her, because I wasn't a selfish jerk.

The only way out was giving Vilgax what he wanted. I couldn't care about losing my powers right now. What mattered the most was getting ourselves out of the Null Void.

I couldn't see how they were going to get the Omnitrix off my wrist, and I didn't want to know. All I told myself was that after Vilgax got the Omnitrix, we were free to head home.

Before I could do anything however, the world descended to darkness.

* * *

I woke up when the moon was high in the night sky.

_Aw man_. It was that annoying dream again.

I didn't understand why I kept waking up after having that dream. I couldn't work out why I kept stopping when I reached the scene where I was supposed to turn back to my human form and have Kevin tear the Omnitrix off, either. Not that I wanted to dream about that repeatedly, of course.

To my right, Grandpa was snoring in his armchair. Gwen wasn't here though. I guess Grandpa made her sleep in the RV instead.

I tried going back to sleep, but without success. The drowsiness had completely left me, so I lay with my eyes open, staring at the ceiling. I wished I could stand or just sit up, because lying down all day is no fun at all.

With nothing else to do, I thought, for the millionth time this week, about the dream I just had.

And immediately started to hate myself.

So many things could have gone wrong! What if Grandpa couldn't keep the portal open long enough for Gwen and I to escape? What if Kevin didn't double-cross Vilgax, and both of them attacked us after they got the Omnitrix? What if Kevin hurt Gwen? What if Gwen got attacked by those grey flying octopuses and couldn't escape when she came looking for me? What if Gwen's rockets broke down and we couldn't get to the portal?

I only realized then just how much Gwen had risked for me when she went into the Null Void. She would have gotten stuck in that stinking dimension alone with Vilgax, Kevin and me, and it would be all my fault.

My fault because I got myself stuck in there, and because I found the stupid Omnitrix.

I know I'm utterly out of character here. I know it isn't like me to put the blame on myself. I know it downright unlike me to hate the Omnitrix, when it turned me from a zero to a hero, but when you're putting your family in danger, like I was, then you'd know how I feel.

The Omnitrix was stuck on my wrist because my curiosity got the better of me. They say curiosity killed the cat. One day I was going to get myself killed. Or worse, get my family killed.

I tried not to remember just how many long I've endangered Grandpa and Gwen by having the stupid watch on my wrist. Probably ever since the first transformation, when I caused a forest fire with Heatblast. And then I started attracting trouble like a magnet. Vilgax's drones came for me, and eventually so did many other aliens from different parts of the universe.

By being the Omnitrix bearer, I hadn't only endangered my family. I'd also brought trouble to all those innocent people on the streets that got attacked by aliens who came to hunt me down.

Every time some alien bounty hunter came tracking me down, the town ended up in chaos.

Burning buildings.

Overturned cars.

Screaming pedestrians.

Who knew just how many people would get hurt if Vilgax managed to escape the Null Void!

And thinking about Vilgax, it reminded me of the reason I was in the hospital the first place. I couldn't summon up anything at all at first, but Grandpa kind of gave me hints here and there, and gradually I managed to get the whole story.

Believe me, knowing about just what happened about I got knocked out from the explosion didn't help with the beating-myself-up-because-I'm-endangering-my-family deal one bit.

And I still didn't know why Gwen cried. The thought of her breaking down into tears scared me. It just wasn't her.

Maybe she was frightened. Maybe seeing my injuries made her remember Vilgax's drones and how close she had been to death. Or perhaps those were angry tears. Perhaps she hated me for putting her into constant danger.

I wonder to what extent could I possibly loath myself.


	5. Chapter 5 Her Resolution

Chapter 5 – Her resolution

GWEN

I really shouldn't have teared up in front of Ben.

Now that I come to think about it, that was pretty embarrassing. I didn't know what made me do it. I only knew that I was worried sick. That it was my fault that Ben ended up like this. I was just staring into his way too pale face, and then he woke up after a million years and unexpectedly I just – Great, he probably thought I was a weakling, breaking down like that. Urgh, he was never going to let me hear the end of it.

Putting that happy thought aside, I ran through the events of the past two and a half weeks in my head. I must admit, this didn't turn out to be the summer I expected it to be, but this was, without a doubt, much more fun.

And dangerous.

So, after Ben and I escaped the Null Void, leaving Kevin and Vilgax to rot in there, we said hi to our future selves, took down Sublimino and his watch, defeated Charmcaster again, and even visited a Christmas town. Normally, well, at least normal for a Plumber and his grandkids, we would be kicking more alien butt, but now, we're stuck in the hospital because I took a walk in the forest and nearly got Ben killed.

My fault. Again.

I heaved a sigh and looked out the window. The moon was shining brightly tonight. Pity that I didn't have the heart to appreciate its beauty.

I was all alone in the Rustbucket, sitting on my bunk, doing nothing in particular. It was way past my bedtime, but I didn't dare sleep. I didn't want to be haunted by those nightmares again.

Something dropped onto the floor from under my pillow. It was a rectangular, brown object – Charmcaster's spell book.

I haven't touched that book since we switched back to our own bodies. I didn't want to mess with stuff that I didn't know about. Who knows, Charmcaster may be studying dark magic. I wouldn't want to get tangled in that.

But a small part of me knew something else. In my very hands lay the solution to all of my troubles. Magic. All I needed was some magic!

Ben could protect himself alright when aliens attack. He had the Omnitrix, after all, and was getting rather good at it. Grandpa was an expert Plumber when he was young, so he could handle aliens pretty well too. The only problem was me. I didn't have any powers. My karate kicks weren't going to be pretty useful against aliens with firepower. I guess I have brains, yet believe it or not, sometimes violence is the only answer to these alien problems.

However, if I could just train myself to master Charmcaster's magic, I could get myself out of trouble whenever I needed to. I wouldn't need to depend on Grandpa or Ben to save me. I could help in the battle.

I know what Ben said about me being able to help even without any powers, but that was when the Keystone of Bezel was drained of all power. I reckoned he was just trying to cheer me up then. No, to kick butt I needed real magic, and I could, just maybe, get all I needed from the little book that was sitting between my palms.

* * *

"Hey," I greeted, flinging myself onto a nearby chair and opening my laptop. "Grandpa's gone to get some coffee. Feeling better?"

I beamed at my cousin and expected him to moan and complain about not being able to get out of bed. However, there was no answer. I folded my arms and frowned at the brown-headed figure on the bed.

What was up with him?

"Hello?" I said loudly, waving my hand in front of his face, figuring he must have failed to hear me the first time. "Earth to Ben?"

He didn't even look at me. He just kept his gaze on the window and acted as if I wasn't there.

There was no way that he hadn't noticed me. I started to worry. Were his injuries hurting him so much that he wasn't in the mood to talk? That was a possibility. Even I winced at the sight of his bandaged head, his arm in a cast, his mummy-wrapped leg that was scorched and all the purple bruises along his skin.

"Ben? You okay?" I placed a hand on his shoulder, concerned. He didn't answer – not that I expected him to – but turned his back on me instead.

Okay, that was just plain rude!

"Hey, doofus, I'm taking to you here!" I slammed my computer shut and stood up angrily. Did I mention that I hated it when people ignore me? "At least tell me if you don't want me around!"

I still was unable get one reaction out of him. Now I was extremely troubled. Something must be really upsetting Ben. He'd never let me call him a doofus and get away with it without a few comebacks of his own.

Could you believe it? Normally, that idiot talked nonstop nonsense; if he wasn't rambling on and on about the newest video game, he would be saying something insulting to humiliate me. Now, he was basically sewing his lips together and had no intention whatsoever of removing the stitches ever.

I wasn't going to give up just yet. I was going to make him talk if that was the last thing I do, because that was my job. I made things hard for him.

"Um, Ben?" I said, using the sweetest voice I could manage. Urgh. Being sweet was not my thing. "You want to use my laptop? I reckoned that you might be pretty bored, you know, being unable to walk around and all. I've got the ne –"

I broke off when I realized that Ben wasn't paying the slightest attention to me. Sighing in fustration, I tried a different approach.

"The newest Sumo Slammers movie was just released, you know," I said, struggling to sound excited. "You one me to get you a DVD?"

Silence. You continued to stare aimlessly out the window. I couldn't see what so interested you there.

"How about I get you a pizza? With extra cheese and pineapple? And we'll leave off the mushrooms, you know how much we hate them."

"…"

"Okay, this is quite ENOUGH!" I grabbed both his shoulders and yelled straight into his face. "I'M TRYING EXTRA HARD TO BE NICE HERE!" I couldn't remember the last time I felt so pissed. "CAN YOU AT LEAST GIVE AN ANSWER OR SOMETHING? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY TURNING YOUR BACK ON ME?"

The moment the words sprang out of my mouth I regretted it. I let go of my cousin hastily as if his skin burned.

_What are you thinking! _I stepped back from my cousin, letting my hands fall beside me. _Ben's terribly hurt. He's feeling awful about it, and simply wants to be alone. The last thing he needs is someone to drive him up the wall!_

I slumped back into my chair, covering my face with my hands.

I was such a doofus.

* * *

Back in the RV, I took out Charmcasater's spell book and flipped to page thirty-five. That was where I left off last night. I opened the curtains so that the sun shone in and started to read.

It turned out to be the most interesting book I've ever come across. Much more interesting than all the games on my laptop, and that was saying something. There were all sorts of incantations, from a spell to grow weeds to one that could blow up the whole country. There were also recipes of over a hundred potions, like the one Charmcaster used when she attempted to switch bodies with Ben.

The more I read, the more fascinated I was. It would be cool to be able to teleport at will. And who wouldn't want to be able to fly and shoot energy bolts? I'd be able to help in those alien fights with Grandpa and Ben! Oh, and this one - it would be definitely wonderful if I could make the cooking utensils come to life. I wouldn't have to eat a single spoon of Grandpa's cooking anymore.

But there was one incantation that I really liked – a spell to summon the surrounding winds and wound up a tornado of my very own. Now wouldn't that would be splendid, to be able to drive everything out of my way. I really couldn't wait to try it out on Ben. That is, when he was feeling better. Maybe I could blow him off to China or something.

I decided to try off the tornado spell first, right after the sun goes down. It looked easy enough: a few words, a simple hand gesture and done.

I pictured myself knowing all the spells in the book, being as powerful as Charmcaster. That way I wouldn't be a burden of my family anymore. I could help. I could kick butt. But…what if Grandpa didn't approve me of using Charmcaster's magic? What if he didn't want me studying a spell book that I took from a bad guy?

The door of the Rustbucket opened with a bang. Grandpa stumbled in, looking very exhausted and exasperated.

"What it is, Grandpa?" I asked, aware of his troubled expression. I hurriedly slid the spell book under my pillow. "Something that Ben did?"

"No. This time, it's something that he didn't do," Grandpa said, failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Don't know what's the matter with him. Wouldn't say a thing. Wouldn't eat a thing either. The doctors are trying to persuade him to get something down. They need him to eat his lunch before he could take the medicine."

I stood up, gasping at Grandpa. First Ben wouldn't speak, and now he wasn't eating anything either? What was the matter with him? Usually he'd wolf down more than could chew. That is, if we were having a decent burger for dinner and not fried tentacles or freshly dug earthworms.

There was something going on, and I was determined to find out.

* * *

I stormed into my cousin's room without a knock on the door.

"BENJAMIN TENNYSON!"

The young doctor with long brown hair who was trying to sweet-talk Ben into taking a spoonful of veggies jumped in surprise and let the spoon fall to the ground with a clatter.

"Oops, sorry!" I quickly cleared up the mess on the floor. Then, taking the lunch tray from the doctor, I smiled pleasantly at the doctor. "And I apologize for all the trouble my cousin's giving you. Maybe I'll have some luck forcing this down his throat. I can be pretty persuasive sometimes. I'll tell you when I finally get him to eat something."

Just as the doctor left the room I went to work. I was about to scream at him again, when I changed my mind. Screaming wasn't everything.

"Ben," I said, my voice real soft. "You've got to eat something. You don't want to starve yourself. It's bad for your health."

No response. I took a deep breath and continued.

"At least the hospital's food taste much better than Grandpa's cooking, right? I still have to eat goat's liver in BBQ sauce."

He didn't even crack a smile.

I started to get impatient. "Hey, do you know it's horribly impolite if you ignore a person when they're talking to you? Anyway, you've got to eat! If you don't, you can't take your medicine. Then you'll never get better. You'll stay stuck in this hospital. You'll never be able to go hero if you can't walk and your arm is still in a cast."

I was a hundred percent sure that what I said would make him gobble down his lunch immediately. I was wrong.

I hated it when I was wrong.

"Benjamin! Listen to me! Do you know what it means if you can't go hero? The aliens won't stop coming for you! They'll still keep hunting you down. But you won't be able to protect yourself. And then there are all those innocent people who'd get hurt! Surely you care about that?"

He has got to answer me. He loved being a hero. He cared for other people. Yet being the stubborn jerk that he was, he remained unresponsive.

URGH! I wanted to throw him into some bottomless pit. I was so angry I could tear him to pieces. I yelled at him for about another five minutes until my voice went hoarse. So much for not doing this by screaming. Nonetheless, he kept staring out the window and faked deafness.

In the end, I was so mad I socked him in the face, which instantaneously knocked him out.

I wasn't usually the really violent kind of person, so you could imagine my shock and horror at myself when I learned that I was staring at the limp form of my cousin, unconscious by my hands.

_What are you doing! _I wanted to scream and bang myself against the wall_. You just hit him! You hurt him! Your own cousin! You've gone crazy!_

At that point Grandpa walked in with some steaming cup noodles.

"I brought you lunch, Gwen – Whoa, what happened to Ben?" he asked, stunned. "He was wide awake just a few minutes ago."

I didn't answer him.

* * *

"Severeus…expectorium…repectua!" A tiny whirlwind formed at my feet, picked up a few fallen flowers, but quickly faded away. I sighed heavily in annoyance. So the spell wasn't as easy as I had expected it to be, but I've been trying to same thing for the past three hours! Why couldn't I get it right?

Was it because that Charmcaster's magic wasn't meant for me? What if it only worked for her? I shook my head and cleared that thought away. I've managed this far. I've found the key to all my troubles. I wasn't going to give up now!


	6. Chapter 6 His Resolution

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10

Chapter 6 – His resolution

BEN

What I couldn't understand was why they wouldn't leave me alone. I thought I made pretty clear by ignoring them all.

I just wanted some moments to myself. I needed time to think.

I couldn't live up to the fact that I was a burden to my family. I couldn't bear to know that Grandpa and Gwen had to fight for their lives every time some alien attacked. I couldn't accept the truth that they were risking almost everything for me, and that I couldn't do anything for them.

True, I've saved them lots of times. But they wouldn't have needed saving if I wasn't wearing the Omnitrix!

And what about Mom and Dad? What if I brought my alien enemies with me home? I was putting everyone I love at risk!

There was only one solution to this.

I didn't like it. It made me feel terrible, knowing that it would hurt them. But what choice did I have?

How could I explain to the doctors that I hadn't the appetite? I was feeling terrible. I was in no mood to eat. My stomach felt like stone. My esophagus was knotted together. There was no way anyone could have forced anything down my throat.

I kind of felt sorry for Gwen that she had to go all nice on me and persuade me into eating. She must have made herself sick by being all sweet and soft like that. Now she was terribly mad at me. I mean, I'd made her furious for many times in my life, but she'd never hit me before. But that was alright, because it was probably better this way, considering what I was about to do.

I guess I've been out for quite a while after Gwen punched me, because when I came to again, it was six in the morning. I've passed out for the entire day.

With a heavy heart, I pulled myself out of bed. Just by sitting up, I could tell that I wasn't well at all; my arm was hurting like hell, my head was spinning like crazy, and my foot was burning in pain. I bones ached, my body hurt throbbed all over, but I didn't have a choice.

_You can do this, man_, I told myself. _You're doing this for your family._

So I turned in XLR8 and sped out the hospital.

* * *

Fortunately my alien powers weren't affected by my physical injuries, unlike the last time when I had a cold and turned Heatblast into Freezeblast instead. The XLR8 I turned into didn't have a broken leg or anything.

I headed to the seaside, five miles away from the city. I went straight off to the rocky cliffs.

Yes, I went alone, hurt all over, without any Plumber gear. And no, it was not a stupid thing to do.

This was the first time I have ever come up with something this smart, but then it was probably the last time too. It was a sad thought, but I couldn't care less about that now.

You are thinking why I chose this place. I believed that, considering what I intended to accomplish, I didn't want an audience when I executed my plan. Thankfully, people never really visited the rocks much.

I admit that I was scared stiff. I didn't want to do it. I wanted to give up. Every time I stared down from the cliff I wanted to recoil. I wanted to crawl under my bed and wish that all my problems would just disappear in thin air.

You want to know what I had in mind. My plan was simple, perhaps the most straightforward plan in the world. But it wasn't easy at all. Not one bit.

I was going to run away. I wasn't going to leave a note, not this time. But then I reckoned that it wouldn't stop the aliens from coming after me. They would still search for every clue that could bring them to the Omnitrix. Or worst, they would do it the other way round by causing trouble for my family and friends.

There was one way that could stop everybody from looking for me. I was going to run away forever and make sure no alien tried to search for the Omnitrix again.

First, I needed to get the attention of Vilgax. That was why I activated the Omnitrix. He would be able to detect the signal coming from the watch. Mr. Octopus Head will then come straight here.

And then there were Grandpa and Gwen. Even though Grandpa didn't know it, I saw him putting a GPS tracking device on my Omnitrix one time late at night when he thought I was asleep. The device would alert him every time I went hero by causing his mobile phone to flash a green light and set off a loud beeping sound. Then Grandpa would be able to track me anywhere as long as the Omnitrix was in use. I'd been trying to remove the little device on my watch, but with no success. I guess he did it to make sure I wasn't abusing my powers.

Anyway, the moment I used XLR8 to escape from the hospital, the device should have woken Grandpa from his sleep. He would come after me here, bringing Gwen with him.

They were also the key to my plan.

* * *

Dangling my legs by the edge of the cliff, I watched calmly as the all so familiar orange spacecraft zoomed across the sky and stopped abruptly above my head, hovering in mid-air.

A small opening from under the spacecraft opened and a black dot fell down from it, growing bigger and bigger until it was my worst enemy, Vilgax, who was falling through the air, his expression triumphant.

"Cornered you at last, Tennyson! I told you that I would always be able to hunt you down!"

_Yeah, right._

"I'm not here to fight, Vilgax," I said serenely, unflinching even as he advanced on me, cracking his knuckles. "I'm here to give you a performance."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Vilgax sneered, grabbing me by the front of my shirt so that I hung in mid-air. "I don't have time for concerts. Anyway, you've been through some fight, haven't you?"

He prodded my broken arm with his one of his overly large and sharp fingers. I winced and swallowed down the cry of pain. It was killing me, but I wasn't going to show any sign of weakness.

"It was your attack drones, if you must know," I said, matter-of-factly. "But Grandpa destroyed them all."

"So, that Max Tennyson again?" Vilgax spat in distaste. "Well, where is he now? Surely he would not leave his grandson all alone when you're in this state?"

I shrugged, but even one little movement caused little waves of soreness down my spine. "That's none of your business."

"You're right," Vilgax muttered, nodding to himself. Then he grabbed my wrist so tightly it hurt. "It's none of my business. I should just chop off your hand right now and get the Omnitrix while your family isn't here."

"Ben!" There was a bang, blast of blue light, and a scream of shock and pain. For some reason, Vilgax has let go of me. Instead of dropping straight down to the ground, however, I flew through the air and landed with my mouth full of dust.

"Ow…"I moaned, fighting to get up. My sight was blurred and the world seemed upside-down. A small, warm hand settled upon my shoulder and pulled me into a sitting position.

"What were you thinking?" Gwen shrieked, her face white with sweat. "How could you just sneak out of the hospital like that? You're not well!"

"Yeah, I'm aware of that," I murmured, massaging my sore neck. Behind her I saw Grandpa, balancing a gigantic bazooka on his shoulder. One sentence etched upon his disproving expression as he frowned worriedly at me – _son, we need to talk._

Regrettably, there would be no chance of that.

At that very moment, Vilgax leaped through the air and grabbed my cousin, his furious face now cracked with an evil grin.

"Gwen!" Grandpa shouted, holding up his gun a little higher and had it aimed at Vilgax's head.

"You're gonna shoot me, Max Tennyson?" Vilgax challenged, his smirk growing wide. "You're gonna risk blasting your granddaughter to pieces?"

Grandpa's hands shook but did not put down the gun.

"You see, Ben Tennyson?" Vilgax turned to me, still suffocating Gwen in his death grip. "This is what happens to your family if you don't surrender the Omnitrix!"

I clenched my fists. I didn't have much time.

"I told you, Vilgax," I said softly, "I'm not here to fight you. I'm not here to give you the Omnitrix, either." I backed towards the cliffs, ignoring the searing pain in my leg, and Vilgax's eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa." I took a step backwards. "I'm sorry, Gwen."

I took another step backwards and let myself fall off the cliff, into the sea, headfirst into the rocks.


	7. Chapter 7 Her Grief

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 7 – Her Grief

GWEN

_Beep…beep...beep…beep_

"Grandpa?" I mumbled, tossing and turning under my blankets. I was dreadfully tired; I wasn't ready to wake up yet. "What's that?"

_Beep…beep…_BEEP…BEEP…

"Grandpa!" I shouted, burying my head under my pillow to shut out the annoying noise. "Turn whatever that thing is off!"

BEEP-BEEP…BEEP-BEEP…BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP…

"URGH!" I screamed in irritation, sitting up and throwing off the blankets off myself. "Grandpa, it's six in the morning!" I complained, fuming. "Why can't you just –"

I stopped dead when I saw him already up and brows furrowed at his mobile phone. Since when had he been disturbed by the fact that his phone was about as old as his RV?

Grandpa leapt to his feet. "Gwen, Ben's gone. We need to go after him right now!" He jumped into the driver's seat at once and started the engines.

"Whoa -?" My mouth dropped open in shock. Everything was happening so fast. "Why?" I was flabbergasted. "I mean, how do you know –?"

"No time, Gwen!" Grandpa snapped sharply as he pressed a button on the panel and the RV rocketed away. "I'll explain later!"

* * *

"BEN!"

I screeched in absolute terror when I saw my cousin disappear from the cliff. Vilgax roared in fury and flung me aside, hurrying towards the edge of the cliff and searching frantically for the brat who was wearing his precious Omnitrix.

I stumbled back to my feet, trembling from head to toe. I looked towards Grandpa and saw that I wasn't the only one in shock.

Vilgax was still leaning over the sea's edge, desperate to find a sign of his long-desired treasure. Any sensible person would have grabbed hold of this once-in-a-life-while opportunity and shoved Vilgax off the cliff when he wasn't looking, but I couldn't be sensible.

_This couldn't be happening!_ I wanted to scream my lungs out._ Ben isn't suicidal! I refuse to believe it! He didn't just walk right off the cliff!_

_He's just playing a trick on us!_ I wanted to believe. _He must have turned into Stinkfly before he hit the rocks or something!_

But no sign of any green light or Stinkfly could be seen.

My legs were shaking so bad that they finally gave away. I sank to the ground, all energy drained from my body.

_NO! NO! NO! _I started shivering uncontrollably. My tears came, unstoppable, so that I was drenched in them. I tasted the salty drops as they travelled into my mouth. My body was shaking so hard it was as if I were in an earthquake. I remembered Vilgax cursing in rage somewhere in the distance, but after that I knew no more.

* * *

Vilgax didn't succeed in finding his beloved alien watch. He called all of his robot drones and ordered them to search the nearby seas, to dive into the water and scan every inch of the seabed, but it was to no avail.

We didn't find our Ben either. Not even his body. The moment I fainted, Grandpa returned to his senses and ran back to the RV to call for help. Within five minutes fifty Plumbers arrived to the scene with tracking devices and ships, and they began their search for my cousin.

The hunt lasted for two days. Finally the Plumbers broke us the news that there was no way Ben could be alive. And I forced myself to believe the truth. My cousin couldn't have survived the fall. The rocks beneath would have crushed him the moment he came in contact with them.

I have never felt so horrible, so distraught. What if things happened differently? What if I didn't let Vilgax grabbed me? Would it be that Ben wouldn't have to jump into the sea? What if he did it knowing that Vilgax would let me go afterwards?

What if there was more to it? What if he leaped off the cliff because he didn't want to endanger his family, that he thought dying was the way out? What if he did it because he didn't want to put me in constant danger, because I had no powers of my own?

What if…what if…what if his death was my fault…?

All those times I've been playing pranks on him, teasing him, finding ways to humiliate him in public…and now, he was gone.

I remember telling him once that I didn't want him around. That he would be better off dead. I couldn't tell him that I was sorry. I couldn't tell him that I actually cared for him, and that I never meant any of the horrible things I said.

He has sacrificed so much for me, and he has died with the knowledge that I hated having him for a cousin.

* * *

It has been four days since Ben's death.

Vilgax must have started to spread to the edges of the universe about Ben drowning, because it was the first time this summer that we didn't get any attacks from alien bounty hunters.

I couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

There was no "I told you so, doofus!" or, "shut up, dweeb!" in the RV anymore. Every day was passed in dead silence, occasionally added with a few choked up sobs. The once joyful and noisy atmosphere was replaced by a depressing and gloomy stillness.

Grandpa cried. It gave me shivers at first, to see a man as strong and firm as Grandpa to shed tears. I guess that however tough you might be on the outside, deep down, anyone could be just as fragile as glass.

I cried too. I spent every of my spare moments mourning for my cousin. It was hard to believe that the Ben I knew, the one so reckless, so energetic, so goofy and cheerful would just suddenly become a thing of the past.

Nothing could cheer me up. My laptop had always kept my mind of things when I was upset, but it failed me for the first time. I couldn't be comforted. I didn't want to be comforted. I just wanted to be left alone, wallowing in grief. For some strange reason, being hugged and comforted and being told that I was going to be alright again one made me feel worse.

To conclude, life went downhill for Grandpa and me.

We still didn't dare tell my aunt and uncle about the appalling news. It would be too much for them. It would be like me going back home now and being told that Ken was dead. I don't think I'd be able to survive that. And there was also the matter of Grandpa and my uncle Carl. What would Carl think if he let his son go on a vacation with his father only to have his only son lost? The last thing we need was to have family members fight each other.

I wasn't sure if keeping Ben's death a secret was the right thing to do, but Grandpa insisted not to tell yet. I knew it must be very hard for him to have lost his youngest grandkid, so I didn't press him.

Tonight, no one had the appetite for dinner, so Grandpa and I stayed in the RV and rotted away. We didn't meet each other's eyes, because every time we did, we broke down.

We sat away from each other, our backs facing. I was on my bunk, and Grandpa at the driving wheel. We both tried to keep our minds off after stuff, like the raindrops running down the windows or the little cracks in the RV wall.

Grandpa was the first who broke the silence. He suddenly started shaking violently, before letting out a strangled moan and collapsing on the steering wheel. My heart breaking at just how shattered he has become, I went over to him and gave him an awkward pat on the back.

Before long we were embracing each other and sobbing as if our lives depended on it.

"Why Ben?" I sniveled, hugging my grandfather tightly, tears trailing down my face. "He didn't deserve to die."

"No he didn't," Grandpa agreed, fighting to keep his voice steady. "Life is very unfair sometimes."

"But he's saved so many people!" I protested, my voice rising to a shout. The tears continued to flood "He's done lots of good! Why so Fate so cruel to him?"

"Darn you!" I bellowed furiously at the sky, to whomever or whatever that was responsible for my cousin's death. "DARN YOU!"

I just might have been cursing at myself.


	8. Chapter 8 His Misfortune

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 8 – His Misfortune

BEN

I expected to be crushed by the sharp, evil-looking rocks. I imagined that the impact of the fall would kill me. I assumed the sharks to tear me into pieces, or for the roaring sea to drown me.

I expected anything but this.

I didn't literally fall headfirst into the rocks. My left hand reached them first, slamming the Omnitrix onto the rocky surface and by some miracle turning me into Grey Matter just as I fell underwater. Being small had its own advantages; I fell straight in the space between two large rocks unharmed.

On the other hand, however, being only six inches and weighting just about the weight of a chicken's egg, I was instantly washed away by the strong currents, sucked beneath the sea water. I fought to breathe, to gasp for air, but I was too weak to do so. My head spun as I was tossed from one place to another, unable to keep control of my body. Where was Ripjaws when you needed him?

I couldn't see clearly, but I was sure I was a long way from the cliffs. The flow that carried me away was so fast that I could no longer spot land.

Water quickly filled my lungs as I struggled still to keep myself above the water. Bubbling up and down the waves, I prayed for the Omnitrix to time out. Surely I could handle the situation better if I were human again. For starters, I would be a few feet taller and much heavier than I was now.

Oh why was fate so cruel on me? All I wanted was to die. A quick death, and everything would be over. If I had just hit the rocks and cracked my skull or something, my body would be sucked underwater and carried off. Nobody would ever find the Omnitrix again, because the sharks would have me, and hopefully tear the watch apart too. Even if I escaped the sharks, there was no way anyone could find a body a ten-year old boy in the great oceans. The world was just too big. And then there was also the possibility that the Omnitrix wouldn't work with me dead. My DNA was merged with the watch's, after all.

There were so many ways that my plan could have worked, but instead, I got turned into Grey Matter. Great, now both Grandpa and Vilgax's sensors would be beeping, alerting them that the Omnitrix had been activated. They'd know that I wasn't dead, and they'd come for me, and everything I've done would be for nothing. My only hope now is that Vilgax would be too far away from his ship to hear the alert, and that Grandpa hadn't brought his phone with him when he came to my "rescue". If that was so, and betting that I'd become Ben again before they got back to their vehicles, then my plan wasn't completely wasted just yet.

Coming back to me at the present, I wasn't sure if I could hang on much longer. The sea was killing me, _literally _killing me. The waves pushed me down, denying me the oxygen I so desperately needed. I couldn't breathe. I didn't have the strength to swim upwards.

I was drowning, but I didn't panic one bit.

Unconsciousness slipped in from the back of my mind, and I thought, just maybe, my plan was going to succeed, just not the way I had expected it to be.

* * *

Have I ever told you that stuff never went my way?

When I awoke I was my human self again. I was washed up on some small, lonely island in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing here, except a few coconut trees and lots and lots of rocks and sand.

This was just great. Instead of splitting open my head and getting it over quickly, I was doomed to suffer a slow death from starvation. And not to mention the unbearable pain from my broken arm. I must be the luckiest person on earth.

With nothing to do but to await my fate, I sat down on the sand under the shade of the palm. I wondered how Grandpa and Gwen were doing. I missed them more than I wanted to admit. I feel like a total jerk for leaving them in grief, that is, if they believed that I was dead.

With no one to talk to, I missed bickering with Gwen. With nothing to eat, I missed Grandpa's cooking. But most of all I missed seeing them, chatting with them, being with them.

I thought about my parents. It seemed unbelievable that I would never see them again. Just about a month ago they were only just telling me to behave during my vacation with Grandpa.

What would they think if Grandpa and Gwen went home without me? They'd have to explain about the Omnitrix and all the alien stuff. I didn't think Mom and Dad would take the news easily. Dad was already always having rows with Grandpa because of him being a Plumber and all that, though I didn't know what the matter was. I thought it would be most honourable to follow Grandpa's footsteps.

Then to my own horror I started to cry. Tears cascaded down my eyes as I hastily wiped them away, as if afraid that someone might see me in such a pitiful state. I buried my head in my knees, shaking. What was wrong with me?

I chose suicide because I believed that it could save all my family, friends and the innocent people. Another reason, however, was to make my cousin guilty for all those times she'd played pranks on me. Then I would get the last laugh.

But it seemed that that part of my plan had backfired on me. It has become a two-sided thing. I found myself feeling responsible for making Gwen sorrow, which of course I was.

I have brought so much sadness and mourning for those who love me. I hated myself for that. I wondered if my parents knew about my "death" yet. I just hoped they would be alright soon.

* * *

It has been over seventy-two hours since I leapt off that cliff. If they were still going to search for me they would have found me by now with all those high-tech Plumber gear they had.

Death must really hate me. He really wasn't in a hurry to take me back to his cozy little home at all. I had water alright, living off the coconuts upon the trees. I was so sure, though, that once I ran out of coconuts I was going to starve to death on this lone little island with nothing for food, but I was wrong. This morning, the waves washed up two fresh, lively salmons up the shore. I couldn't tell if fate was toying with me or not.

I just wanted to die, but there seemed to be someone wasn't going to let me have my way.

Then without warning a storm blew up. Or at least, I thought it was a storm. The winds started raging like crazy and the sun was slowly covered from sight by a huge shadow. A thunderous sound of a gigantic engine filled the air as a grey spaceship landed on the rocks beside me.

"Tetrax?" I wondered aloud in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

The diamond-headed gunman stepped from his ship. "Benjamin Tennyson," he gasped, about as dumbfounded as I was. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Long story," I muttered, wiping sweat from my forehead. "How did you find me?"

"My sensors indicated a human life-form on this desolate island," Tetrax replied. "I thought it was some ship-wrecked sailor. I didn't expect to find you. Also, what's wrong with your arm?"

"Yeah, well, like I said, long story."

He put his hands to his hips. "But I do not understand, Ben. Surely you, the wielder of the Omnitrix, could escape from this place easily with your aliens? Or is the watch broken?"

I started down my only weapon, stuck fast to my left wrist and my shoulders slumped. "It's not broken. It's just…the Omnitrix is kind of off-limits now," I mumbled miserably.

Tetrax raised his eyebrows, or he would if he had any. I guessed I had some explaining to do.

* * *

"That wasn't the cleverest thing to do, Ben. I didn't expect suicide from you."

"Nor did I at first, really," I admitted, staring out from the spacecraft pointlessly after Tetrax had given me some of his alien medicine and completely cured me of all my injuries. "But then I reckoned that I didn't have any choice."

"Dying is not the way out to everything," Tetrax pressed on, his eyes never leaving the controls. "You brought a lot of pain and sorrow to your family members."

"There's no need to remind me of that," I muttered bitterly. "It's just that I thought they'd get over it soon enough. I mean, time heals, right?"

"Sometimes, sometimes not," Tetrax said quietly, as if there was something on his mind. "I'm bringing you back to your grandpa right now."

I instantly leapt to my feet. "What? No!" I cried, shocked. I glared at Tetrax, whose expression I could not make out. "Did you forget the very reason I ran away the first place?"

"No, I didn't, Ben," Tetrax answered calmly, his cool gaze on me. "But you've caused your loved ones enough –"

"I know!" I hollered, flaring up. Why didn't anyone get it? "But what done is done. I can't go back! There still has to be aliens hunting for the stupid watch who don't know that the Omnitrix is gone. If they come to Earth and find me here, they'll tell everyone that the watch is still here. My planet will be in danger because of me. Then my plan would be fruitless!"

Tetrax was silent for a moment. "You can't hide forever, Ben."

I glowered at him. "Why not?"

"Because, as you said so yourself, there are still aliens who will still come to your planet in attempt to search for the Omnitrix. They will cause trouble in get your attention. And knowing you, Ben, you'll try to keep your kind from danger no matter what."

I hated it when Tetrax was right.

"I –I'll just leave those aliens be for a while," I said quickly, as it was the first thing that came to mind. "A few people might get hurt, but after a few ineffective attempts the aliens will just go away. Then Earth will be safe again, right?"

My green friend considered me in skepticism. "Keep telling yourself that, kid," Tetrax sighed, shaking his head. "You know you can't let anyone get hurt in your name."


	9. Chapter 9 Her Faith

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 9 – Her Faith

GWEN

Grandpa was out. I was left staring at the empty bunk at the back of the RV. The heavy rock stuck in my heart weighted just a few more tons and broke a hole right through at the bottom.

My grandfather wouldn't phone Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra and tell them about Ben, so I was left with the wretched job. I guess I couldn't blame Grandpa, though it would do too if he just understood that I was feeling the same as he was, too.

Suddenly the world gave an enormous shiver. The RV shook wildly and I was thrown to the ground. Wincing in pain, I gritted my teeth and scrambled to my feet. Explosions sounded outside the Rustbucket as the roof of my Grandpa's home was ripped apart, revealing a sky of red, disc-like spinning robots.

"Vilgax?" I cried out in terror. There was no reason for him to be here!

Before I could recover from my shock, though, the RV was burst open and I found myself being lifted into the air and crushed in the firm grip of Mr. Tentacle Beard.

"What do you want, Vilgax?" I yelled at his ugly face, trying hard not to show my fear. "There's nothing for you here!"

"Not so, human!" Vilgax responded, cracking a taunting, wicked smile, squeezing me tighter still.

"The Omnitrix is gone! Ben's gone!" My voice shook as I said it, but I held my tears back. I struggled furiously, punching and kicking. Everything reminded me of the scene back in the Null Void, except that this time, Kevin wasn't here, and nor was Ben.

"Really?" The hideous alien grinned. "Well, I've got two pieces of news for you, human! The good news, your cousin isn't dead. The bad news, I'm using you to lure him to me!"

I was too taken aback at Vilgax's words that I failed to do anything but stare, my mouth opened in disbelief, even when the alien brought me back into his spaceship and threw me down to the ground.

"W-what do you mean, B-Ben isn't dead?" I stuttered, grabbing my throbbing left arm that I had landed right upon.

"Duh! I saw him! Need there be a better explanation?"

"You _saw_ him?"

"My tracking device received signals from the Omnitrix, signifying that the watch was being used," Vilgax turned to me, his voice deep and grave. "I couldn't believe it at first, but your cousin survived the fall, human. When he turned alien, me sensors picked up the signals instantly. I went after him; I tracked him down. However, he escaped me. But this time," Vilgax bore down on me, his eyes flashing, "he's not going to be so lucky."

* * *

"He's not going to come!" I shouted, definitely. "He's not that stupid!"

"Yeah right," Vilgax sneered, narrowing his eyes. "Then why are you sounding so worried?"

"I'm not worried about him," I lied, easily, thinking fast. "It's just that, won't you feel a little nervous if you're hung from the top of a thirty-story building by a mere rope?"

I squirmed about in the thick cords binding me fast. My hands were tied behind my back, but my legs were left free. I was dangling in aloft, ninety feet above the ground, held only by a rope which other end was tied to a metal railing bordering the top of the structure.

"I wouldn't move too much if I were you," Vilgax called down to me. "The rope might break!"

I scowled, annoyed that he was probably right. A long way beneath me feet, cars zoomed past and people walked by, not knowing that a ten-year old girl was being held hostage right above their heads.

I kept my eyes from the dizzy sight. I didn't know how I could get myself out of this situation, but if Vilgax wasn't lying and Ben wasn't dead, I still didn't want him to come looking for trouble because of me.

Ben was alive! That was a good thing, right? I would have my cousin again. Grandpa would have his grandson again. Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra will never have to go over all that grief we have suffered. Everyone would be joyous as if nothing terrible had ever happened.

On the other hand, the world would be in danger once more. Aliens would constantly come looking for Ben and his Omnitrix, causing chaos in our world. There would be a lot of trouble for Ben's family, for instance, like now.

But even at the risk of dropping down a million miles onto the hard concrete floor below couldn't override the joy and happiness bursting within me. Ben wasn't dead. He was still here! He must have used the Omnitrix to save himself or something. Maybe he turned into Ripjaws and swam away. Or perhaps XLR8? That alien could run on water, couldn't he? That would explain why we couldn't find him; he was too fast for us to see.

_What if Ben didn't jump off the cliff with the intent to kill himself, but only to fake his death so that Vilgax would leave us alone? That would seem more like him. Just leave it to him to play the biggest prank on the whole world! _

_But if that was true, why did he actuate the Omnitrix again, knowing that it would catch the attention of all his enemies? Unless…he didn't have a choice?_

A foul smell stung my nose. Fear grasped me like an icy hand closing upon my heart. That odor…surely Ben wasn't really stupid enough to come picking a fight with Vilgax?

Something snatched me with such force that the rope holding me snapped into two. Before I knew it I was zhooshing in the sky at seventy kilometers per hour. I blinked, finding myself in the firm clutches of Stinkfly.

"Ben!" I didn't know whether to be wary or happy. "You stupid…you weren't supposed to…you're alive!"

"You didn't have to remind me of that," my cousin grunted, sounding extremely upset. I frowned and cocked my head in confusion. _Huh?_

Stinkfly held me with two of his legs and untied me with another two. The ropes fell freely down onto the street below and landed on the hood of some blue truck.

My arms now free, I hugged him, hard, like I had in the Null Void. I found myself overcome with emotions so great that one tear escaped my eye despite my efforts to hold it back.

"You came back for me…" I mumbled, only half-conscious of what I was saying. "You didn't die. You came here. You…Vilgax…you're going to fight…"

"I'm sorry," Stinkfly interrupted, sounding awfully depressed and pitiable. "I tried, Gwen. I tried to keep Vilgax away from you and Grandpa, but I made a mistake, I used the Omnitrix, I…the building was burning down, there was a little girl in there, I couldn't let her die…"

"Ben…" He looked so small and pathetic that I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. I wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault. I wanted to tell him how happy I am to see him. I wanted to comfort him, to remove the pain from his voice, but before I could say anything, a large shadow closed in upon us.

"Look out!" I screamed, pointing, as the giant squid-head alien came crashing down on Stinkfly, grabbing the tail and digging his claws into it. It must have hurt, but Stinkfly only flinched and showed no more signs of pain.

I considered the extent of human ignorance. We had to be the strangest threesome in the world – a girl clinging onto the back of a huge, stinking insect with four eyes while a big bald alien held onto the fly's tail, whizzing through in a slightly out of controlled way between the buildings – and yet nobody in the streets, none at all, spotted us.

Stinkfly was doing alright at first, thrashing his tail about in attempt to throw Vilgax off, but the big bad wolf hung on securely, refusing to be shaken off. After a while the villain's weight was too much for my cousin, who couldn't say airborne and started losing height.

"Ben!" I shouted, terrified, but Stinkfly didn't fret. Sweat trickled down his alien skin as he gave burst of speed. His wings buzzed furiously and he zipped forwards, dropping me on the roof of a candy shop.

"Wait!" I cried, but Stinkfly was already way out of sight, somewhere in the distance, with Vilgax clinging onto his tail. Fumbling for my cell phone, I dialed Grandpa's number.

"Grandpa!" I said, failing to keep the excitement and worry out of my voice. "We need your help!" I took a deep breath. "Ben's back!"


	10. Chapter 10 His Will

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

BEN

Chapter 10 – His Will

After making sure that Gwen was safe, I could attacks of my own at will. Squirting greenish-brown gloop at Vilgax, I forced him to release his painful grip on me. The stinky ooze landed on his face, blocking out his sight and smell. He roared with anger and disgust, one hand letting go to wipe the slime off his face, gorge rising. I grabbed hold of this golden opportunity, taking advantage of the fact that the villain was only clinging on with one hand, gave a violent shake and hurled Vilgax towards the ground.

The big alien crashed onto the middle of the main road and sent a few cars skidding towards the pathways, colliding into shops, shattering glass windows. People screamed and ran for their lives as flames and fire started from the leaking oil of the overturned cars, shouting for help.

_There you go, Ben! _I scolded myself wrathfully._ You let Vilgax hunt you down again, and innocent people pay for it with their lives! You say you're a superhero, but you're just one stupid dead loss! What did I tell you, Ben? You're better off dead!_

I clenched my teeth, feeling the fury seething inside me like water at boiling point. I was supposed to save people, and yet I always ended up hurting them. I trashed their cars, wrecked their houses, destroyed buildings, endangered lives…the list could go on forever.

An all-too-familiar beeping sound hung around my ears, and in a flash of scarlet I was back to my human self, standing on the top of some bakery in the streets.

I was wrong to come back. I should have left the girl in the burning building; the Omnitirx would never be activated, and Vilgax wouldn't have returned. After all, I couldn't save everyone. Life was like chess; occasional sacrifices were necessary, right? By giving up one life, I could have saved everyone else on earth, for it would never be at the mercy of Vilgax, unlike the present. By surrendering that little girl to the clutches of death, I would not have to risk hundreds of thousands of other lives.

Yet, deep down, I knew I would never have been able to leave the child to burn in the roaring blaze. I remember the look on her face – so helpless, so scared, so sad. I saw my reflection in her – my distressed, completely-at-loss self.

But when she saw me, a tiny trace of hope flashed in her eyes, overcoming the feeling of fear and confusion at the sight of a four-armed, red skinned alien; I was her only way out to the light. I was her only chance to see the world again.

I couldn't possibly let her down.

Now, I face my strongest foe of all. Vilgax was just there, amid the smoking, upturned vehicles, struggling to his feet. I was determined to bring him down. He wouldn't hurt anyone again.

I would kill him if it was the last thing I did.

* * *

"Hey, Vilgax!"

The stupid, bald octopus-head spun to the direction to my voice. "Ben Tennyson!" he boomed, clenching his fists. "Why in such a hurry to face your doom?"

"My doom?" I snorted, raising my eyebrows. I pressed the button on my Omnitrix, now fully recharged, so that the dial shot up. "You're the one who's going down!"

Vilgax roared with laughter. "I am all-powerful, Ben Tennyson!" he sneered, pulling out his three-foot sword. He stepped forward, brandishing his weapon. "Nobody can stop me!"

"Oh yeah?" I shot back, switching though the aliens of my super watch. "Tell that to… Heatblast!"

I slammed the dial down with much force and the transformation took place immediately. Before the blinding green light faded away I was fully changed into the rock-skinned, fiery alien, ready for battle.

"Ready to eat up the flames I'm gonna shoot at you?" I taunted, all set to give the bad guy a piece of my mind.

"You talk big, Tennyson," Vilgax sneered. "And you're making a big mistake, picking a fight with me."

I wasted no time in replying Vilgax, but emitted the flames I promised him. Sending a stream of fire blasts at the alien, I speedily dodged the jet rays Vilgax shot at me with a laser gun he pulled out of nowhere. Similarly, Vilgax has managed to escape my attacks, and fire started to consume the trees on the sidewalk.

Frustrated that my first onslaught had not met its mark, I unleashed one of my more powerful attacks and sent blazing fire balls raining upon him, while at the same time giving the alien a taste of Heatblast's ultimate fire cannon-blast. The conflagration caused an explosion which destroyed everything within ten feet radius.

I thought Vilgax was gone for good, but before the grey smoke fogging my vision has even cleared, powerful laser beams shot from within. I jumped aside to avoid being hit, stunned that my enemy has managed to not just survive the boom, but to counterattack me too.

"You cannot defeat me, Ben Tennyson!" Vilgax's voice thundered from all around me. "I will take the Omnitrix from you!"

The dust died down, and Vilgax stood before me, a high-tech sonic cannon in hand. I swallowed, not knowing what his new weapon was capable of doing, preparing for the worst.

With a tremendous bang and a smirk, Vilgax fired. A huge ray of purple light came rocketing towards me, taking me by surprise. Too late to leap out of the way, the blast hit me straight in the face, throwing me backwards. Hitting hard wall, the back of my skull protested in distress, but I forced myself back on my feet, leaning against the brick wall for support.

_I can do this_, I thought, panting, putting aside the dizziness in my head. _He might have a really powerful alien tech, but he's just one dumb squid-face. Meanwhile, I've got the brains._

Rejoining the battle, this time primed for the cannon, I let fire dance in my palms as I faced Vilgax once more. Instead of aiming at the villain himself, I shot at his big gun, startling him. I chucked fire blasts at the metal cannon again and again, until I finally made a dent in the tough material. I reckoned that if Vilgax didn't have his ultimate weapon, he would be much easier to take down.

Now knowing just what I was up to, Vilgax roared angrily and discharged his cannon at me without restraint, giving me no time to attack. I leapt away from harm, hardly able to catch my breath, the blasts missing me by inches. I kept my eyes open for any chance to fire back, but for now there was none. The sonic booms kept coming, denying me the seconds I need between attacks for me to get back at him.

"You see, Tennyson?" Vilgax bellowed triumphantly. "Victory will be mine!"

"The fight's not over yet!" I yelled back. I there was no way I'm going to let him win!

Deciding that prancing from one place to another just to avoid Vilgax's attacks wasn't going to make the fight mine, I gave a giant leap and landed in an alleyway, the walls shielding me from the sonic cannon. I summoned up all my power and gathered a glowing, massive fire orb between my palms, waited for the right moment, sprung out from my hiding place and pitched the ball right into Vilgax's ugly face.

KABOOM! Everything exploded; trees, cars, trashcans, bits of concrete road… all was thrown up into the air and set on fire. I sure was glad that the place had been deserted when Vilgax made his first appearance, or a lot of people would have been blown up.

There was no doubt this time; Vilgax couldn't have managed to come through that detonation. He had to be dead as a doornail. I hurried forward, just checking to make sure.

A huge claw shot forward and grasped my neck, holding on fast. I choked, too shocked to do anything. Another claw reached out, tapping on the Omnitrix on my chest, and turning me back to Ben.

"Wha -?" I gasped in horror, struggling in the alien's hurting clasp as Vilgax snickered at me.

"How stupid are you, Tennyson?" Vilgax scoffed, his hand tightening on my windpipe. I struggled for breath, digging my fingernails into the squid-head's claws and pulling them across his skin, hoping to make him let go. "I told you, did I not, human, that you can't hurt me? You actually think that I didn't come here prepared for all your attacks?"

Vilgax took a little metal ball from his pocket – a tiny energy-shield projector.

"You're going to take me back to your giant piece of orange space trash again?" I gasped, sucking in little air with much effort.

"No," Vilgax replied, taking out his blade. "I'm going to cut off your wrist right here and now!"


	11. Chapter 11 Her Fury

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 11 – Her Fury

GWEN

I never understood how Vilgax managed to escape the Null Void and send those robot drones after Ben and I in the forest, but I guessed some things weren't meant for you to understand. Thinking too much about them only gave you a headache. The same thing could be said for Ben. I have always thought that my cousin was just as easy to read as a storybook for three-year old kids, and that he was nothing but a naughty, immature, tactless little kid who really needed some spanking once in a while. From his personality I assumed that all Ben thought about was Sumo Slammers stuff, going hero and ways to avoid homework and all that…you know? I thought he was just so simple to understand, and that there was nothing about him that I didn't know.

But that all changed in that little trip to the Null Void with Vilgax and Kevin. I saw the courageous side of him, and not just the reckless, love-the-thrill-of-being-a-hero Ben. Nothing surprised me more when I found out that he actually knew the true meaning of self-sacrifice. My impression of him being just a stupid, annoying little doofus started to alter.

And that wasn't the end of it. His behavior in the hospital freaked me out. Not once in my life was Ben ever a quiet person, and nor did he ever lost his appetite. He never said no to pizza or Sumo Slammers movies. He often ignored me when I talked to him, but Grandpa too?

He kept gazing out the window when there was nothing to see. It really spooked me at first; I thought the attack of the drones caused his brain to be affected and he started seeing things. But after a while I thought that was least likely, so I let myself forget about the thought.

Usually, a few comforting words could snap him out of his moods, but it didn't work when I tried going all sweet on him when he wouldn't eat his lunch. I began to wonder just how much I didn't know about my cousin. It was as if he had double personalities. I couldn't figure out what made him so upset, and to my own surprise it troubled me more than I wanted to admit. He may be a mega dweeb, but he was my only cousin. My _twin_ cousin, to be precise, and that might just have added to the bond between us.

I was utterly shocked and horrified when Ben stepped off that cliff with such calmness he might have been only walking to McDonald's for lunch. He showed no signs of fear, of sorrow, or of anything that would make him hesitate. He eyes illustrated nothing but determination, one that could drive him to step backwards and into the sea.

When he was gone, my world faded away. A feeling of eternal doom washed over me, a feeling I couldn't explain. I just couldn't believe what I saw. The person who just jumped off wasn't my cousin, because Ben wasn't stupid enough to choose death to overcome his troubles, whatever they were.

But then a light shone through the darkest of my days when Vilgax came and announced that the Omnitrix has been activated. Renewed hope fluttered within me as I was proved right: Ben wasn't trying to kill himself, but only to pretend to be dead in order to trick the aliens away from our planet.

The joy and gladness when I saw my cousin again couldn't be described in words. It was simply too great. Ben, however, did not look as if he was happy to see me. In fact, he looked downright unhappy and as if his world has fallen apart.

I saw no reason to be as upset as he was, but then again, I didn't understand him, just as he would never understand to whole of me. There was one thing for sure, though – I would never be deceived by his laughs and smiles again.

* * *

The RV skidded to a halt next to me and the door swung open. I jumped in swiftly and found myself in some kind of a weapon's vault. Guns, the Null Void projector, hand grenades, little missiles…Grandpa must have loaded all of this into the Rustbucket by himself when I called him for help; we were heading for war.

Grandpa turned round to face me from his driving seat. He looked worn out, probably because an old man like him had just spent the last ten minutes carrying metal weapons in and out the RV, but in spite of his obvious exhaustion signs of excitement and bliss were visible upon his features.

"Step on it, Grandpa! We need to help Ben," I said urgently, grabbing a random gun from above the fridge. "I don't know where he is, but he went downtown with Vilgax."

Grandpa nodded in agreement. "He'll need all the help he can get."

He flicked a little white switch on his panel and a rumbling sound issued from the engines. I recognized the symptoms; the RV was turning into a rocket. As much as I didn't like flying, I wanted to get to my cousin's aid as soon as possible. I rode shotgun and buckled my seatbelt. This was going to be some ride!

* * *

"Ben!"

I pounded the panel furiously when I saw my cousin, lying motionless on Vilgax's knee, his left arm bleeding like mad. Dark, sticky liquid stained his T-shirt so that it was no longer white, but a sickly reddish-brown. The bad guy himself was holding a long blade in his claws, looking terribly irritated and angry.

"Why doesn't it work?" Vilgax roared, incensed. He raised his sword, about to bring it down on Ben's wrist again.

With I scream of ire, I sprung out of the Rustbucket, gun at the ready. I was holding the Grandpa's newest invention: a super-light carbine that shot energy bolts instead of bullets.

Seeing so much blood made me want to rip Vilgax into smithereens, but I pulled myself together. I couldn't let anger overpower me and make myself carry out stupid actions, like charging at Mr. Octopus Head and shooting continuously at him, which was the only thing I wanted to do now.

Grandpa hurried behind me, grabbing tightly on a funny-looking Kalashnikov with red laser shots. I cocked my gun, aiming for Vilgax's head. I was going to get Ben out of this. He has endured enough pain already, both physically and spiritually. I was not going to let him suffer anymore!

"Let him go!" I bellowed, my voice shaking as I raised the carbine. "Or I'll –"

"Or you'll what?" Came the mocking reply.

For some reason, I found this exchange oddly familiar, but I put the thought away for now.

"Or I swear I'll tear you to pieces!" I shouted back. Now that sounded strangely familiar too. Maybe I heard it somewhere in the Percy Jackson movie I saw a few weeks ago.

"Ha!" Vilgax's laughter shook the streets. I glared at him, resisting the urge to grab his sword and run it through him the very second. "You are amusing, human! You? Tear me to pieces? You must be kidding me!"

"I'm serious!" I growled, and before Grandpa could stop me, I ran straight at Vilgax, firing my weapon at him. The villain's armor had to be pretty strong, because the energy bolts bounced right off it, but not before giving Vilgax a little electric shock here and there, causing him to cry out in agony.

"You'll shoot me, human?" Vilgax said, picking up my cousin by his shirt and dangling him in front of his face. Blood splattered to the ground from the Omnitrix, marking red spots on the pavement.

I halted, thunderstruck. I have almost forgotten about my cousin. He was still at the villain's mercy. If I continued attack Vilgax, who knew what he would do to Ben!

I shouldn't have paused have too long, because Vilgax took his chance and fired at me. One moment there was only a sword in his hand, and the next a huge canon has appeared out of nowhere on his shoulder.

"Look out!" I saw Grandpa throw away his Kalashnikov and dive towards me. His heavy weight knocked me to the ground, while a gigantic ray of purple lightning hit my grandfather square on the back. He let out a strangled cry and fell facedown onto the ground, unmoving.

"NO!" I screamed, reaching for my rifle, only that there was none at all. The shattered remains of my carbine lay pitifully next to me, burnt and useless. The blow of the sonic cannon has blown it apart.

"What did I tell you, human?" Vilgax said, scornfully. "I will be victorious!"

I looked at my fallen Grandpa, and my helpless cousin, who was slowly bleeding to death. Both of them needed to hospital, and fast. But right now, I was weaponless, against Ben's most powerful foe of all.

"There seems to be a problem with the Omnitrix!" Vilgax announced to no one in particular. He threw Ben onto his shoulder. "I'm going to take the watch back to my spaceship to investigate."

"No, you're not." My voice was dangerously relaxed. I didn't know where all the confidence was coming from. "You're going down, right here, right now."

I couldn't really remember what came next. I only felt my body boiling in passion, the hot fury bubbling in my veins.

"Severeus…"

Something like blue lightning crackled around my wrists, but I couldn't recall what exactly.

"…expectorium…"

I was angry, so angry at Vilgax. He hurt my Grandpa. He hurt my cousin. I could slice and dice him into little pieces and feed him to crocodiles. I could grab his blade and skin him alive.

At that moment, I was capable of doing anything in the world.

"…REPECTUA!"

I knew it would work before it happened. Between my fingers a tiny twister was born, then it jumped from my hand and onto the ground, growing bigger and bigger. The dust devil grew until it was eight feet high, before charging towards Vilgax at my command. The big bad wolf gasped in astonishment as the swirling wind crashed into him, swallowing him whole into its eye, trapping him there.

I glared up at Vilgax, who was still stuck inside my personal mini tornado. I ordered the wind to lift Ben off Vilgax's shoulder and safely into my arms.

"What was it that you said, Vilgax?" I said, glowering at him. "Look who's the victorious one now!"

Gently laying my cousin on the ground, I ran to the RV for the Null Void projector. Out of the corner of my eye, Vilgax was struggling to activate his sonic canon, but I gave him no chance whatsoever of doing that. The winds yanked the weapon out of his hands, leaving him powerless.

Vilgax pulled out his sword, but I demanded the tornado to blow it away. He tried turning on his energy-shield projector, but the winds were way ahead of him, and snatched it from his claws.

"Goodbye, Vilgax," I said expressionlessly, pulling the trigger of the Null Void projector. A portal opened in time and space, showing the dimension of doom on the other side. "We won't be seeing you soon."

"What? NO!" Vilgax tried to resist the winds surrounding him, but it was all in vain. I used the power I have just mastered and sent him, and the whirlwind, straight into the Null Void.


	12. Chapter 12 His Diary

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 12 - His Diary

BEN

"Hey, dweeb," I said feebly, sitting up against my pillows, raising a hand in greeting. My left arm, the one with my Omnitrix, was still screaming with anguish. _Curse that stupid Vilgax._

My cousin simply smiled and sat herself next to my bed. "Hey, Ben. Good to know that you're back to yourself."

"Huh? Since when was I not myself?"

Gwen rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. "Since the start of ice age, you little doofus."

So she noticed me being upset. I guessed it had been rather apparent, me ignoring everybody and all that. I scolded myself for forcing people to put up with my moods.

"Um…" I started, looking around. Man, I hated being back in the hospital. "So where's Grandpa?"

"Don't worry, he's okay," Gwen reassured me, patting my shoulder lightly. "He got shot by Vilgax's sonic cannon, but now he's fine. He's extremely strong for something his age, just like the doctor said the last time when Rojo attacked him. Nothing broken, just a little bit shocked by all the sound waves."

I shot up from my leaning position. "Vilgax _attacked_ Grandpa?"

"Yes, but he's okay now."

My family got hurt again, because of me. If only I wasn't here, then –

"Well?" Gwen said, snapping me out of my thoughts. Her expression expectant, she placed her hands on her lap and sat straight as if waiting for me to tell her a bedtime story. "Are you going to tell me?"

I frowned, confused. "Tell you what?"

She pointed at my injured arm, and I couldn't help but flinch a little. "That," she said, looking sadly at the bandages. "When the doctors saw the deep cut, they actually asked if you had tried to kill yourself." Gwen gave me a bright smile. "I said no, of course. I told them you're not suicidal."

I winced, shifting uncomfortably.

"That's nothing," I said hastily, glancing at the Omnitrix. "Like you said, it's just a cut. I gave that to myself."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "Really?" she said incredulously, folding her arms. "Are you going to tell me the truth, Ben, or am I going to have to hack into your brain and find the answers by myself?"

I have heard of Gwen's newfound powers to control winds, but breaking into minds? "You can do that now?"

"I have a spell in my book that can serve the purpose," she replied, smugly. Then she continued in a softer tone, placing her hand on mine. "Come on, Ben, you know you're a terrible liar. Just spill the beans, will you?"

I sighed. Why was Gwen suddenly so persuasive?

"After Vilgax got me, he tried to cut off my arm, you know, so that he'd get the watch. Only he couldn't, for some reason. Either his blade was too blunt, or my bones have suddenly grown super strong." I shuddered at the memory, feeling Gwen's hand tightening around mine. "The sword pierced through my flesh though. He was squeezing all the air out of me. And then I blacked out."

I trailed off, looking away. Recalling horrific memories wasn't the on the top of my hobbies list.

"I'm so sorry, Ben." I looked up in surprise. Gwen was staring at her shoes, looking very dejected. "You should never have suffered through that. Nobody deserved the torment Vilgax gave you."

That coming from Gwen, I was stunned. "It's okay," I mumbled, getting her to look at me. She shouldn't seem so depressed. It wasn't her fault. "Vilgax didn't manage to get the Omnitrix, remember? He couldn't cut my wrist off. The world is saved."

"Yeah, but the whole thing nearly killed you!" Gwen's voice rose heatedly, startling me. "Do you know how scared I was? You just lying there, not moving, bleeding all over yourself, at the mercy of Vilgax? Do you have an idea how I felt?"

I watched, lost for words, as tears started to cascade from Gwen's green eyes. Gwen – the girl so tough, so strong…

"I'm sorry, Gwen," I whispered, my insides aching for her. So I was the reason for her tears. "I'm sorry I made you worry so much, I –"

"It's not your fault!" Gwen said immediately, her voice an octave higher. "It's just…I've lost you once before…I don't want to lose you again…"

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't find the right words to say. "Well, I…" I tried, looking uncertainly at my cousin. What could I do to comfort her? I was never good at consoling people. "About the leap-off-the-cliff-thing…I'm sorry, too…"

"Oh, that's fine," Gwen replied, grinning softly through her tears. "You were just playing a trick on all of us, I should have known…it's a pity it didn't work, but anyway, it's the thought that counts, and you were so kind, trying to protect us all…"

"Actually," I said, wondering why I wanted to be honest all of a sudden, "that wasn't really it."

I told my cousin my true thoughts when I was by those cliffs, staring into the sea below, wishing with all my heart that my plan would go right. I explained to Gwen that I really tried to leave all my troubles on earth by escaping to death's door, but it was fate joking with me that kept me alive. I told her how I met Tetrax, and how he convinced me to go back. She listened to the end, without interrupting once, which I was grateful of.

The uncomfortable silence that followed was pure agony to me. Gwen stared into my eyes, her own wide and bright with tears, looking terribly hurt. She wiped them away with her hands, then glared at me fiercely.

I thought she was going to hit me, or at least yell into my face, to give me the telling off that I so deserved. Instead, she held my shoulders tightly, and her words travelled clearly into my ears.

"Benjamin Tennyson, I thought we were done with this. You can NEVER run away from us. You're part of the Tennyson family, and always will be. You can't escape us forever, because fate will always bring you back home. You understand?"

I smiled, and nodded.

* * *

"So…why couldn't Vilgax cut your arm off?"

It was good to be out of the hospital and back in the RV. Since both Grandpa and I were well again, we saw no reason to cancel the road trip, so I was still going around with Gramps and Gwen for the rest of the summer.

"I don't know," I shrugged, fiddling with my Sumo Slammers cards. "Maybe it's the watch."

"You mean the Omnitrix, like, made the bones on your left arm as hard as rock or something?" Gwen typed busily away on her laptop, not bothering to look up.

"I'm thinking it's the Omnitrix's alien DNA fusing with mine. You know how Four Arms can stand great impacts and Heatblast isn't afraid of explosions? Some kind of alien DNA must have made me firmer and tougher such that Vilgax wasn't able to cut my arm off. Make sense?"

"Then how'd you explain Vilgax's cut right into your flesh?"

"Urgh!" I groaned, burying my face in my arms. "Can we not talk about this, please? You're giving me nightmares worse than before!"

Gwen paused, finally pulling her gaze from the computer screen. She stared at me, open-mouthed. "You had nightmares?"

"Yeah, but they're nothing to worry about. Why?"

She slammed her laptop down, blinking at me. "It's just…I've been having bad dreams too. They've been haunting me since the last time we met Vilgax, in the Null Void, you know."

Before I knew it we were telling each other our dreams, every thought and feeling that crossed our minds in those few terrible minutes.

"That's why I went to take that walk, Ben, I wanted some fresh air. I was so scared, the nightmare was so real."

"Yeah, Gwen, my nightmares were pretty real too, but –"

"That's also my motive for learning magic, Ben," Gwen interrupted, leaving me no chance for talk. "I wanted to be useful; I didn't want to be a burden for you and Grandpa."

"You're not a bur –"

"I was always in trouble, because I didn't have powers of my own. The aliens are constantly coming, and I can't save myself; I have to rely on you and Grandpa. I feel so helpless sometimes, when you are in danger and Grandpa isn't there."

"Well, you have brains –"

"But having brains isn't everything!" Gwen shouted, pounding her hand with her fists. Taken aback, I grabbed her wrists and stopped her from hurting herself. "Did my brains help me escape Kevin back in the Null Void? NO! Did my brains prevent the Omnitrix from being ripped off your wrist, which at the same time caused you intense anguish? NO!"

"Calm down, Gwen!" I yelled. "You've got to remember, with your brains we got out safely with the Omnitrix in the end!"

"Not before you already suffered for my sake! Don't you see? You're always in trouble because of me! I get held hostage by some stupid alien, and you pay the consequences for coming to rescue me."

"Gwen," I sighed, rolling me eyes. "You're missing the most important point of all. The truth is, you won't be in any of the trouble you mentioned if not for me."

"But –"

"I found the Omnitrix the first place, right?" This time, I refused to let her break me off. "And then I start attracting trouble. That's when I start endangering all the people around me. That's why I wanted to go away. Leave this place, so that nobody would have to risk their lives because of me. I'm better off dead."

"You're talking nonsense!"

"And you weren't when you were putting all the blame on yourself?" I argued, glaring.

Gwen bit her lip, then took a deep breath. "How about this," she stated quietly, "from now on we're not going to blame ourselves for everything anymore, and nor are we going to point the finger at each other."

I grinned at the idea. "Yeah, let's not ever mention about this topic again."

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_It's been quite a week, but I promised Gwen so I'm not going to talk about it. Bye! _

_Nah, just kidding. I can't believe I actually visited the hospital twice this summer. I just hope I won't be going there any time soon._

_My arm is still hurting a lot. But I guess the pain will just go away eventually. Next time I see Vilgax he's really going to get it._

_Oh yeah, I think I forgot to thank Gwen for saving my life with her awesome wind powers. Guess I'll have to do that tomorrow._

_Speaking of tomorrow, we're going to New Mexico to visit Grandpa's old friend, Mr. Green, and his daughter Kai. I'm not sure it'll be fun, but I guess I'll just have to tag along. I don't know why, but there's this strange feeling I have about the coming trip. Is it precaution…or something?_

_To tell the truth, I'm still feeling terrible for all the trouble I've caused Grandpa and Gwen. The heavy feeling just stays stuck there, unmoving. I'm not going to let my family worry about me anymore, though. I smile, I laugh, I joke around, and everyone will think I'm okay. Lucky for me that Gwen's not suspecting anything, because she's usually the sharp one._

_Goodnight!_

_Ben_


	13. Chapter 13 Her Diary

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Chapter 13 – Her Diary

GWEN

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm so glad that everything okay again. Ben's fine now, Grandpa's fine now, and we're continuing our vacation together. Nobody will ever suspect that some tragedy has actually befallen on us just a few days ago._

_It's it just great? Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra will never know about Ben's death. They're spared from all the grieve and stuff. Lucky them, huh? I wish I were that lucky too, except that I destroyed that lucky charm and the beginning of summer. Not that I'm sorry, of course._

_I've never seen Grandpa this happy before. He's singing aloud all day long. He even treated us ice cream right after we all left the hospital. We didn't even have tentacles for dinner, but just plain fish and chips. It really makes a nice change._

_Ben's arm is still hurting him, I'm sure. He's always wincing when he makes small movements with his left hand. I'm going to check out my spell book tomorrow to see if there's anything I can help him with._

_Oh yeah, tomorrow we're going to New Mexico. We're visiting a friend of Grandpa's…Mr Green, I think. And her daughter Kai too. Not sure why, but I don't think I like this girl. I know it's obscure, seeing that I've never met her before._

_Urgh…Ben's putting up a great show of being his happy-go-lucky self again. He probably thinks I'm fooled by him, but nope! I'm not going to fall for his fake smiles again! He's still feeling horrible him being the wielder of the Omnitrix and putting us in danger blah blah blah…I just hope he's going to snap out of it soon. It's not his fault, after all. He should know, of all people! He's saved at lots. Nobody has actually died because of the aliens hunting him down. Ben always comes to the rescue._

_I'm going to sleep now. Funnily enough, the nightmares stopped after I told Ben about them._

_Goodnight!_

_Gwen_

* * *

Author's comments on the story –

Well, that the end of it. The story just shows how much Ben and Gwen don't about each other, right? They spend most of their childhood arguing, joking around, playing pranks etc. Seriously, they've got a lot of growing up to do. I wrote this fic about Ben and Gwen because, well, I thought that there might just be another side of them, you know, the more caring, loving side?

They really should learn to appreciate the fact that they have each other, and that they're never fighting alone. I mean, it shouldn't take a deathfic to make them understand just how much they mean to each other, right? That would be plain sad. That's one reason why I didn't kill Ben off. The two of them deserves a second chance. Another reason…well…I'm not that good at writing stuff that is too sad. I guess I'll need to train a bit more on that.


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